Posts tagged “tickets”

Thought for the day…”If you count all your assets you always show a profit.”

“We may pass violets looking for roses. We may pass contentment looking for victory.”

Now I am old enough to know better, but sometimes I get caught. What makes it even worse is that I got caught twice because of a lack of research on the internet. The warning signs were there IF I had looked before I bought….

I often used websites that compare prices to find the cheapest price. I am learning more and more that cheapest is not always best. I used a couple of websites (kayak.de and also skyscanner.com to find some good deals on air tickets. These websites present you with a list of online travel agents (OTAs) who deal with the actual selling of the air tickets (kayak and Skyscanner just list the agents and do not sell tickets themselves). If you look online at sites such as Tripadvisor you will find pages and pages of reports of people who have had problems with the online travel agents. I also fell into the trap, and got caught twice, which makes me feel even more foolish. Lost a lot of money through these OTAs and now that I have had my fingers burned twice, and avoiding them like the plague. If you have time, then have a look at Tripadvisor and see what people are writing about the OTAs.

The message is very clear…..book direct, whether it is for hotels or for flights. Although the prices may look cheaper at first, the OTAs will find a way to make their money from you. And as a lot of people have found, it is very easy to get scammed by the online travel agents, with the final price often being different to the first advertised price. So now that I have lost money twice by trying to book via an OTA, now I am just booking direct for both flights and hotels. Save yourself the problems !!

Clear skies and clean air for this photo from the Swiss town of Grindewald.

Thought for the day….” Do not wait for the right moment, make the moment right”.

” A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance”

Did you see the story in the USA (Hawaii) that a woman has won the right to have her full name on her driving license? Normally it is not a problem, but here family name is ” Keihanaikukauakahihuliheekahaunaele” which was too long for the government computer systems. They are now going to reprogram their road licensing computers so that she can have the full 36 letters of her name on her ID. Also from the USA is the story about the computer problems at United Airlines which resulted in free tickets being given away, when the prices came up as USD 0. The company temporarily shut down their online booking system when it discovered the errors. And there was a similar story with United Airlines back in 2012, when some travellers found that they could buy First Class return tickets from New York to Hong Kong for USD 43 and 4 air miles. Never seems to happen when I want to book a ticket. When I book a ticket now, there seems to be far too many EXTRA charges. Some carriers are even charging for carry-on baggage now. And Samoa Air became the first airline in the world to introduce ‘pay for your weight’, where the price of your air ticket depends on how much you weigh.

And for the photo today, another portrait shot, this time of a boy in rural Nicaragua. Good lighting and a natural pose make this a lovely photo. Again, it shows that you just have to have the camera ready to capture the right moment.

Thought for the day….” Money cannot buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with”.

” Love is like a war, easy to start, hard to end”.

Stupid companies. There are a lot around, run by stupid people. I am hoping that they go out of business fast, but sadly they are still around, bugging me. Air France is one example. Try finding an email address on their website. Of course, they freely give out numbers to ring on an expensive telephone line, but very conviently hide their email addresses. They are quick enough to take your money, but when you want to get a refund, then the walls go up and they just do not want to know. A good company will not cover up its email address, as email is the normal way of communication in the 21st century, except for Air France of course. Until I get my refund from them, then Air France/KLM/Transavia will not see anymore of my money.

Simple and powerful for the photo today, and a photo of a well-know petrol station sign in perfect weather and with perfect light. Simple, but it works. Did you know that the colour red can make you feel hungry, whilst the colour green has the opposite effect? The colour blue is said to convey trust and reliability. Blue is also the favourite colour of most people Chromatophobia is the fear of colours, whereas leukophobia is fear of the colour white.